


Christmas Cookies

by verbaeghe



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baking, Contests, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-14 14:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13009569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verbaeghe/pseuds/verbaeghe
Summary: “Ondrej, a local channel is doing a couple’s version of that Christmas Bake Off show!”“Okay, so?”“Okay,so, the top prize is twenty-five thousand bucks! It would give us enough money to get the bakery started! We would even have some left over! Ondrej! We should do this!”“You said it’s for couples. We aren’t a couple, Tyler.”





	Christmas Cookies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lecavayay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lecavayay/gifts).



Ondrej is sitting on his couch, staring blankly at his laptop. He’s attempting to come up with gift ideas for his roommate, Tyler, because it’s never too soon to start planning for Christmas...especially for someone like Tyler, who is impossible to shop for.

Tyler busts in the front door, all out of breath and excited. Ondrej snaps his laptop closed reflexively.

Tyler grins at him and Ondrej knows that nothing good is coming.

“Ondrej, a local channel is doing a couple’s version of that Christmas Bake Off show!” And it isn’t.

“Okay, so?”

“ _Okay_ , _so_ , the top prize is twenty-five thousand bucks! It would give us enough money to get the bakery started! We would even have some left over! Ondrej! We should do this!”

“You said it’s for couples. We aren’t a couple, Tyler.” Ondrej can feel the ‘Tyler has another stupid idea’ migraine forming behind his left eye already.

“It isn’t like _they_ know that. We live together and have for a while. We can pretend for three tapings. It’s only three! You can’t pretend to like me for three short little episodes?”

Ondrej can pretend. He spends every single day pretending that he isn’t in love with Tyler. He isn’t so sure that he’ll be any good at pretending that he’s pretending that-- Dammit, now he’s confused himself.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ondrej frowns. “I don’t want to get in trouble, or anything.”

“Do I ever have any bad ideas?”

“I can think of one or-”

“Of course this is a good idea! You know that we can win! C’mon, Pally, for me?” Tyler drags out the e and Ondrej sighs. Tyler must be serious if he’s using the old college nickname.

“Okay,” he relents, and the look of joy on Tyler’s face almost makes his stupidity worth it.

He really hopes that they don’t qualify for the show.

//

Of course they qualify for the show, because someone somewhere hates Ondrej and wants him to suffer.

The first taping is tomorrow and Tyler is talking him through the recipe. It isn’t like he’s never baked before, but Tyler is acting all worrisome, so Ondrej is rolling with it. He’s getting instruction on how to make white chocolate bark and mint chocolate twigs for the mint chocolate cheesecake bûche de noël.

“Is this entry too simple?” Ondrej asks, worried they won’t make it out of the first round with something so simple.

“No, people love this type of dessert.” Tyler sounds convinced, so okay.

 

The day they spend recording the first episode is the worst. Standing there, watching Tyler act like he’s in love with Ondrej, like they’re a couple, while making a looks-fancy-but-it-isn’t dessert is just the worst.

Everyone loves the whole act so much that they eat it up even more than they do the cheesecake, which they demolish, so Tyler must be as good an actor as he is a baker.

They’re the second couple picked to move on.

//

“The results weren’t good enough, I wanted to be picked first.” Tyler frowns. “You’re right, we should have made something bigger and better.”

“I thought they said they were picking in no particular order?” Ondrej asks.

Tyler rolls his eyes, which is rude. “You know that they just _say_ that and they list them in order.”

He knows no such thing, but decides not to push it when Tyler is so pissy over it all.

Ondrej gets to spend twelve hours learning how to apply candy coating to already candied ginger so the Gingerbread-Brandy Trifle can have ‘extra flair’.

//

The second taping isn’t any better. More time acting like perfect boyfriends who love to bake together. The judges eat it up and even the other contestants think they’re the cutest, and Ondrej wants to die.

They’re picked first for the final and Tyler’s ‘I told you so’ face looks more smug than usual.

//

Tyler is beside himself with panic trying to come up with something that will wow the judges.

“Well, it’s Christmas themed, right? Why don’t we make Christmas cookies?” Ondrej suggests.

“No! We can’t make Christmas cookies! That’s _boring_ ,” Tyler shakes his head, starts pacing. “We need something amazing that will blow them away.” Tyler stops at the counter, goes back to flipping through his tattered recipe book. “I just, I don't know what to choose...or even if anything in here is good enough.”

Ondrej has a pretty good idea for something that would be good enough. He was saving the recipe as a surprise that they could open the bakery with, but desperate measures and all of that.

“My mom used to make these chocolate peppermint cupcakes? The cake is triple chocolate, and it’s topped with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with peppermint crunch and bark? Maybe they will work?” He goes to his room and retrieves the recipe, handing it to Tyler when he returns.

Tyler’s eyes get wider the farther they go down the page. He lunges at Ondrej, hugging him tightly. “You’re a lifesaver, Ondrej!”

“Glad I could help,” Ondrej replies, and if he sounds a bit pained, well, it’s because Tyler is hugging him extra tight.

 //

The last show is the worst, because they have to sit down and do these heartfelt interviews about how much the love one another and how much the holidays mean to them as a couple. Ondrej’s heart is beating out of his chest as he sits there waiting for them to finish micing him up and then before he knows it, there’s someone sitting across from him asking questions.

“How long have you two been together?”

“Depends on which of us you ask,” Ondrej replies. They didn’t talk this through, because they’re idiots, and that’s as good an answer as any. He forces a small, crooked smile, the one that he knows is charming and the host laughs, so good enough.

“Okay, and, what’s your favorite Christmas tradition with Tyler?” She smiles at him. It has too many teeth and that makes it kind of disarming.

“Um. Well, we always bake these amazing Christmas tree peanut butter blossom cookies on Christmas Eve, to leave for Santa, you know? And then we have some _special_ eggnog and wrap presents. We usually go to bed pretty early." Ondrej smiles, looking off into the distance. "And then I love the next morning, when Tyler is is ruffled and sleepy...his hair sticks up in a hundred different directions, and he has this smile, it’s just so...I don’t even know how to explain it." Ondrej shakes his head. "We have some of the leftover cookies and cocoa for breakfast while we open presents. It’s just...the best.” Ondrej doesn’t realize that he’s said too much until about the time that he’s finishing up his story and seas that the host is tearing up from his story.

Well, crap. There is no way that Tyler won’t know his secret  _now_.

 

It’s terrible waiting to see Tyler’s reaction when the show is playing the stories. Ondrej isn’t surprised that they saved his for last, not after the reaction that it got.

Tyler’s segment is good, he definitely rehearsed and has just the right amount of things that sound plausible but it’s much more subdued than the story that Ondrej told.

It’s obvious when the host starts talking about Ondrej’s segment that they think Ondrej is the romantic and Tyler is just more reserved.

It’s painful sitting there watching himself be oh, so obviously in love. He doesn’t even want to chance a glance in Tyler's direction. God, he's such an idiot.

The couples are gathered to the front after the segments finish. Ondrej blindly grabs for Tyler’s hand, squeezes it when the host opens the envelope...and reads their names.

They’ve done it.

They’ve won!

They finally have the money to open the bakery! He turns towards Tyler to celebrate. Ondrej hugs him then his heart is clinching when he pulls back.

Why, if everything is so great, does Ondrej feel like he’s lost everything when he sees the way Tyler is looking at him?

//

Ondrej ducks out of the after party as soon as he can. It’s easier than he thought it would be after all of the pomp and circumstance.

It’s about the time that he’s putting the key into his lock that he starts wondering if he’s going to have to move out.

 

Tyler arrives not ten minutes after him. He’s out of breath when he asks, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I’ve been in love with you since Freshman year and you’ve never shown any interest. Why would I tell you?” Ondrej looks at his feet.

“I haven’t left your side in six years!” Tyler’s voice cracks on the last word, Ondrej snaps his head back up. “I live with you and we’re supposed to go into business together. What is it in there, exactly, that isn’t 'showing any interest’?

“I, um--” Tyler steps right up into his personal bubble and Ondrej can hear his own throat click when he swallows.

“Come on, Pally,” Tyler reaches up and brushes at Ondrej’s hairline. “You have to know by now that I love you.” His eyes are dancing with joy when he meets Ondrej’s. “Also, maybe you should kiss me.”

Ondrej does.

//

The first special of the day on Bolts Baking Co.'s grand opening is Christmas tree peanut butter blossoms.

They sell out in eighteen minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! ♥
> 
> Here are the recipes that are mentioned in this story:
> 
> [Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Bûche de Noël](http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2013/12/mint-chocolate-cheesecake-buche-de-noel.html)  
> [Gingerbread-Brandy Trifle](http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/gingerbread-brandy-trifle)  
> [Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes](https://apumpkinandaprincess.com/chocolate-peppermint-cupcakes/) (but with real frosting because ew, cool whip)  
> [Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Blossoms](https://javacupcake.com/2013/12/christmas-tree-peanut-butter-blossoms/)


End file.
